U.S. District Judge Robert Dow, whose high-profile cases include the Chicago police consent decree and the racketeering charges against Ald. Edward Burke, is leaving the federal bench to serve as counselor to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
Dow, a President George W. Bush nominee who has served as district judge here since 2007, will begin his new position in Washington on Dec. 5, succeeding Jeffrey P. Minear who retired last month, the Supreme Court announced in a news release Monday.
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The counselor’s position is similar to a chief of staff, assisting the chief justice with court policies and administration, as well as serving as a liaison to the executive and legislative branches on issues affecting the court.
Dow will also represent Roberts “in relations with judicial organizations, foreign courts and visiting dignitaries” and serve as chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, according to the release.
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“I am grateful to Chief Justice Roberts for the opportunity to serve him, the Supreme Court and the judicial branch in this new role,” Dow said in a written statement. “It is an honor and privilege to succeed Jeffrey Minear following his long and highly successful tenure as Counselor.”
Roberts wrote in a statement that Dow was “well prepared to take on these new responsibilities.”
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“I look forward to a long and productive relationship,” the statement read.
Dow’s departure could have implications for several high-profile cases on his docket. Earlier this year, he denied pretrial motions by Burke and his two co-defendants, clearing that case for trial in November 2023 after years of pandemic-related delays. A status hearing that case had been set for Dec. 12 — a week after Dow is scheduled to begin his new job.
Dow also is overseeing the Chicago Police Department consent decree, shepherding a lawsuit brought in the wake of the fatal shooting of Black teenager Laquan McDonald by white Officer Jason Van Dyke. In March, Dow granted CPD a three-year extension to comply with the tenants of the decree, giving the department until 2027 — a total of eight years — to implement a wide range of court-ordered reforms.
In his 15 years on the bench in Chicago, Dow has built a reputation as a genial and even-keeled jurist who often gets laughs with his quips about the judicial process. Earlier this year, he described his trial calendar ravaged by COVID-19 backups as “a Rubik’s Cube without a solution.”
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Dow attended Yale University as an undergraduate, was Rhodes scholar at Oxford University and earned his law degree from Harvard University in 1993.
Prior to his appointment as judge, Dow was a partner at Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago. He teaches complex litigation as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University Law School.
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